Champagne house Ruinart has been collaborating with artists and designers for a few years, joining forces with creative talent to bring to life the inspiration and history behind their products. After working with Maarten Baas, Hervé Van der Straeten, Nendo and Piet Hein Eek – among others – the company enlisted Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf to create a body of work which adorned a dedicated champagne bar during Frieze Masters. The photographer immersed himself in the house of Ruinart, and was invited to create an expressive oeuvre that embodies the spirit of Ruinart and celebrates the 120th anniversary of their first collaboration, with Czech artist Alphonse Mucha in 1896.
Better known for his sleek, staged and intricately produced images, Olaf’s initial idea was more in line with his extant work, but a visit to the company’s cellars changed his mind, he explains. ‘When I was in the cellars, I noticed something I had not seen before: there were drawings, signs of nature, signatures carved in the stone, machines, bottles, so I started to photograph these elements, isolate them.’ Olaf drew from his journalistic background and produced a series of black and white images that highlight these traces of human life.
Olaf sees a strong connection between the light and dark dichotomy of photography with what Ruinart does.
‘I returned five times into the cellars,’ says Olaf, who created the work over the course of two years, ‘each time isolating pieces, looking for references.’ Soon he found that these anonymous traces had similarities with modern and contemporary art: a series of bottle racks resembled works created by the Zero movement; other shadows on the walls (or imprecisions in the plaster), once captured reminded him of Rothko, Seurat or Damien Hirst. The collection of images is as much an exploration of his own approach as a photographer as it is a testimony of time and human passage in the Ruinart cellars. ‘I had to explore myself as well, because this was something I had never made before – [to] take a piece of wall, photograph it. I would say that is the closest I could come to my own art.’
For champagne, this is a radically different approach; a drink that is so much about light, universally thought of as gold and sparkly, is identified via a series of moody, dark images. ‘The vineyards are about light, the cellars are about darkness,’ explains Olaf, who sees a strong connection between the light and dark dichotomy of photography with what Ruinart does. ‘Photos, like champagne,' he concludes, 'need darkness to find light.’
Descending into Ruinart's cellars, Olaf drew from his journalistic background to produce a series of black and white images that highlight traces of human life
‘I returned five times into the cellars,’ says Olaf, who created the work over the course of two years, ‘each time isolating pieces, looking for references’.
The collection of images is as much an exploration of his own approach as a photographer as it is a testimony of time and human passage in the cellars
‘I had to explore myself as well, because this was something I had never made before – [to] take a piece of wall, photograph it,' says Olaf. 'I would say that is the closest I could come to my own art’
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Ruinart website
-
Extreme Cashmere reimagines retail with its new Amsterdam store: ‘You want to take your shoes off and stay’Wallpaper* takes a tour of Extreme Cashmere’s new Amsterdam store, a space which reflects the label’s famed hospitality and unconventional approach to knitwear
-
Titanium watches are strong, light and enduring: here are some of the bestBrands including Bremont, Christopher Ward and Grand Seiko are exploring the possibilities of titanium watches
-
Warp Records announces its first event in over a decade at the Barbican‘A Warp Happening,' landing 14 June, is guaranteed to be an epic day out
-
The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt will be shown at Tate ModernThe 42-panel quilt, which commemorates those affected by HIV and AIDS, will be displayed in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in June 2025
-
Meet the Turner Prize 2025 shortlisted artistsNnena Kalu, Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami and Zadie Xa are in the running for the Turner Prize 2025 – here they are with their work
-
‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuitElla Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
-
The art of the textile label: how British mill-made cloth sold itself to Indian buyersAn exhibition of Indo-British textile labels at the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru is a journey through colonial desire and the design of mass persuasion
-
Artist Qualeasha Wood explores the digital glitch to weave stories of the Black female experienceIn ‘Malware’, her new London exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, the American artist’s tapestries, tuftings and videos delve into the world of internet malfunction
-
Ed Atkins confronts death at Tate BritainIn his new London exhibition, the artist prods at the limits of existence through digital and physical works, including a film starring Toby Jones
-
Tom Wesselmann’s 'Up Close' and the anatomy of desireIn a new exhibition currently on show at Almine Rech in London, Tom Wesselmann challenges the limits of figurative painting
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next yearTate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
